Understand Ours
by Olive.branch3
Summary: Sequel to Of Ink and Water. This starts off a little bit after Abel and his old lady get married and whether willing or not, both have to make the hard decisions to survive together. Abel/OC
1. Dear Kay

"_Time, they say, heals all, but it really doesn't. I never realized how shitty that saying was. Time just numbs the shock and makes it easier to go back to old habits, pretend like nothing's wrong. It's been almost two years since I married Abel. Heidi's walking and talking more and more. Of course you know this…or I hope you know. I hope you're watching over us poor, boring souls down here. I'm an official nurse now. Good timing, I guess, now that I need to pay for my own place and my own bills and all that adult shit. My mom told me I can come back to Tacoma, spend some time home, but it feels wrong to take my baby away from her father, even if it is temporary. No, I guess I'm stuck here in good old Charming. It's not all that bad, though. Taylor's been a great help although she could never replace you. It's so strange how things are now, so strange how fast change comes. I miss you. You were the greatest friend I ever had. I feel stupid sitting here in the tub in the middle of the night writing to a dead person that'll never read this, but I can't help and writing you helps keep me from taking the gun on the sink and killing my husband. He wasn't here… and I know that if you were here, you would have been. You never would have left my side. I cheated on him, you know, my greatest mistake, but one I'll never apologize for. Heidi's spending the night with Tara, and that's the safest place for her tonight. The house is a hell hole. I haven't cleaned in days, and I'm out of weed. Just like me to be thinking of weed right now. I think it's cause I'm really craving some. Where was I? Oh, yeah, the house. It's a house. I gotta go, but I'll write later. Love you, Kay."_

Chelsy folds her feet under her and leans over the tub to pick up the lid on the toilet. She grabs her lighter and burns the letter, letting it fall into the toilet. First things first, she says, order some pizza.

"Chelsy, open the door!" Abel says knocking on the locked bathroom door. He sounds husky, his voice probably getting used to talking again after all the drinking and smoking he's been doing on the patio. This is how they've been the past week or so. She claimed the master bedroom and he claimed the patio, both avoiding the other.

"Come on! We need to talk. We need to get Heidi," he yells.

She leans back against the tub staring at the white door and remembering when she brought Cody over a week ago and told him the sink was leaking and she needed a strong man to fix it. They ended up having sex against that door. He wasn't that bad. At least not until they separated and he helped her sit on the sink and then ran out like the coward he was. Apparently, his admiration for Abel meant more than his loyalty to her, and he turned his back on her. The little shit went straight to Abel and confessed which set off a series of events she would never forget. In fact, she's still got the bruises from that day.

"Abel, it's the middle of the night. She's sleeping at your mother's house. Why don't you go do the same?" she yells back at him. Oh, she should've told Kay about why the house was a mess. She and Abel spent a lot of time destroying everything in this house except the frame of the house, the windows, and of course, Heidi's room.

She stood up on wobbly feet, her black boy-shorts clinging to her and her tank-top stretching against her skin. She didn't bother to turn on the AC. It seems neither did Abel. She approached the sink, slowly avoiding all the broken glass on the floor from the broken mirror, and she saw her reflection in one of the bigger pieces. Her black eye was still there and her cheek still bruised. Thankfully, the cut on her forehead wasn't bleeding anymore. Taylor told her to get stitches but she refused.

She rolled her eyes at Abel's continued banging and she opened it, letting it swing hard enough to hit the back wall.

"You know, neighbors are gonna call the cops again if you don't stop your shouting," she tells him in a calm tone that made him feel like she was talking to him like he was a child and not the adult he was.

She leaned against the doorway entrance and he leaned against it as well.

"Heidi asked me to go to the park today. She loves the swings, you know?" he whispers to her. "It's been so long since we've gone to the park together, the three of us."

"Yes, well, it's hard to go to the park this past week since my face was so swollen I could barely see straight," she reminds him. "And where were you? You could've taken her. Oh, that's right, you met up with your buddy Mr. Jack Daniels and decided to visit for a while."

She pushed against him moving slowly throughout the rest of the house in search of some phone to get her pizza. She was so hungry.

"You never went to get checked out," he reminds her. "Maybe we can get cleaned up and go see my mom," he says softly behind her. She rolls her eyes again. It seems his conscience kicked in finally. It's been over a week since he beat her unconscious and they haven't spoken a word since. That whole night was a daze, she barely remembers it. She remembers fighting back so hard, but she wasn't strong enough, and Cody stood by and did nothing. In fact, he ran...yet again. The club has been integrating its doctrines and theologies into him over these past few years. One of its doctrines is that an old man and his old lady handled their own business privately. No one gets involved unless the old man allows it. Abel told him to leave and so he left. She was alone and the next night, not the next morning, Tara stopped by to check up on them, but there was nothing she could do. She was too late. When Chelsy came back to consciousness, she managed to lock herself in the bedroom and used all her strength to push the dresser against the door, making sure everyone stayed out.

She came back to the present, and she didn't address his comment. She was still too pissed that his bruises have already healed and he could see Heidi. She had to mope around this place, she wasn't sure she could handle her daughter asking her about all the boo-boos on her face and where they came from.

"I ordered new pizza. It's on the table," he tells her after watching her open the fridge and shut it when she realized there was nothing there.

She goes back to the room and locks the door behind her, pushing the dresser against it. She didn't trust him to stay out. As she goes to take her spot in the tub again, she hears the other shower go off. She lies down to close her eyes for a bit, enjoying the coldness of the tub and she smiles, not feeling so hungry anymore.

…..

"Hey, kid," Jax says walking up to his daughter who was currently sitting in one of the swings at the clubhouse. She's been sleeping at the clubhouse for over a few weeks, not sure she could stomach being under the same roof as her mother.

"Hey, dad," she says looking up at him. His hair was short and turning gray. His hands strong and scarred and when provoked, could do a lot of damage to someone. Her brothers get their physical strength from their father.

"Your mom said you stopped by Abel's place," he states. Neither of them said more for a few moments. Both silent as they think about all that's happened.

"I have a beautiful niece who needs both her parents, and we just let that little girl's father beat the living shit out of her mother. You've always been different, dad, different from Tig and different from Happy. You never used violence to solve your problems with mom. You never used your strength to control her or to make her obey. Abel did that… and it's so strange that nobody here who knows what's going on finds anything wrong with that. I would've stopped him if I knew, dad. More than anything, one of you should have stopped him," she tells him. She gets up and walks away, her faith and her belief in this clubhouse shaken.

…..

Abel got out of the shower and dried his face, making sure to get all of the water drops and all of his tear drops. He gets dressed, enjoying the feel of his light shorts and not the feeling of the jeans he's been wearing the past few days, and he gets the broom from the garage, figuring since he can't sleep, he might as well clean up some of the mess he made. It's weird how events turn out. In a perfect world, they would have been celebrating expecting their second child. Things went wrong though, too wrong, and he didn't want to see it. He thought it would all sort itself out, but it didn't. He focused on the sound of the pieces of glass moving against each other as he swept, not bothering to wipe the tears that fell continuously.

* * *

A/N: Here is the sequel. I'm back! Please review and let me know what you guys think. Expect the updates to come Sundays. Thanks everyone!


	2. Consequences of our Actions

A few days later, Chelsy showed up at Tara's place, ready to collect her daughter. Spending a week away from her daughter was too long.

"Mama!" Heidi screamed through the window. Chelsy didn't fight the smile that rushed out of her.

"Chelsy…I was just about to put her down for a nap," Tara said through the screen door.

"Hello to you too, Tara, I'm here to take my daughter back," she said opening the door and walking past her to reach Heidi. "Hi, baby girl!"

"Mama, I miss you," Heidi said close to her ear. Tiny and warm arms wrapped around her neck and all Chelsy could do was hold tight.

"I have no problem watching her, Chelsy. You can take the time you and Abel need…" Tara said closing the door shut.

"No, I don't need any more time. I'm taking my daughter home," she said. "Heidi, you ready to go home? Play with Mr. Pooh?"

"My Pooh," Heidi said clapping loudly at the name of her favorite stuffed animal. Pooh Bear was a great creation, if for nothing else than for the joy that honey-loving bear gave her daughter.

"Yeah, come on, say goodbye to grandma," Chelsy said letting Heidi give her grandmother a hug goodbye.

"Chelsy, it's too soon," Tara said. "You're not even healed completely."

"Yeah, no thanks to you," Chelsy said walking out the front door. "I'll be back to collect her things later."

As Chelsy placed Heidi into her car seat, Tara walked behind her with a suitcase.

"Here," she said handing Chelsy the bag. "I kept a bag ready for you, diapers and clothes and pacifiers."

"Thanks," Heidi said placing the bag in the passenger seat. "Bye, Tara."

"I'm sorry…for everything. I'm truly sorry," Tara said to her before waving goodbye to Heidi and going back to the porch.

When Chelsy came back to the house with Heidi, the first thing she notices was that the house was much cleaner now. She will admit that when Abel decides he's gonna fix something, he does. Waiting a bit until Heidi woke up from her nap, Chelsy fixed the rest and went grocery shopping with her sweet little girl and cooked up some sweet brownies for herself and Heidi. Looking at the crystal blue eyes of hers, Chelsy finally felt like her world was starting to shift back in the right direction.

…..

After getting Heidi settled and placing her on the couch to watch some cartoons, Chesly went to prepare a plate only to stop in her track when she saw Abel sitting at the kitchen table.

"Your bikes not in the front," she commented not expecting to see him.

"It's in the garage. I worked on it while you were gone," he told her. "You brought Heidi back."

"Yeah, this is her home. It's time she start living in it again," she said moving around him to pull the tray of brownies out of the microwave.

"We were gonna have a son," he says keeping his voice down so Heidi doesn't hear them.

"Yeah, well, he's gone now," she told him sorting brownies onto a smaller plate. The miscarriage was sudden, unexpected. Chelsy thought she fell down the stairs and she was the cause of the death of her baby, but she wasn't, a fact that Abel kept from her until she confronted him and he had to admit it.

They were different after they lost the baby. Abel dug himself deeper and deeper into the club, into the gun business with the Irish. He was able to avoid the fallout of his arrogance. She couldn't.

The days following the miscarriage were days Chelsy couldn't escape from. She was in pain, both physical and emotional, and what made it worse was Chelsy couldn't remember how she fell down the stairs. The doctors told her she couldn't remember the moments leading up to the fall because of the head injury, but Chelsy did remember eventually. She didn't trip or lose her footing. She was pushed, and she was pushed by a visiting Son from Belfast, a Son who drank a little too much and couldn't control himself, a Son, who was the biological son of one of the strongest and most valued IRA members. His name is Declan Saslin.

Abel said he wanted to tell her, but couldn't look her in the eyes and tell her that the man who killed their son had a free escort back to Ireland after what happened. Abel couldn't kill him, couldn't even attempt. Killing Declan would start an international war between the two organizations.

If Chelsy was completely honest with herself, she would admit that she lost her mind after that. She went out of her way to make Abel feel guilty and make him hate himself as much as she hated him. If she was completely honest, she would admit that she didn't really hate him. She wanted him to find a way to avenge their son, but he wouldn't. The IRA and the Sons have a long history, and no matter what, that relationship had to last, Abel told her.

"Daddy!" Heidi says running into the kitchen and into Abel's arms. Her giggles were loud enough to be heard throughout the house. Chelsy missed that sound. In her worst moments, that sound saved her.

"Come on sweetheart. Let's turn Pooh on," Abel said. He took the plate of brownies with him eating a piece.

"Daddy, that's mine. Mommy has yours," Heidi says poking him in the nose.

"What'd I say about poking me?" he says laughing with her as he tickles her until he sits her down on the couch. "Love you, baby."

"I love you, daddy" she says taking a bite of her brownies.

When he entered the kitchen, he came up behind Chelsy, placing his arms on either side of her, resting them on the sink. Her back was to him and she was eating chocolate frosting from a spoon.

"I'm sorry for everything. I take the blame for everything, for the baby, for Cody, for everything. Don't give up on me," he tells her softly in her ear.

"Don't ask me that right now. I wanna take Heidi and go to the beach," she tells him.

"We can all go…like we used to," he tells her.

It takes the longest time for her to reply but she agrees.

"I'm not doing it for you or for us. I'm doing it for our daughter," she says giving him her blessing.

Abel lets her escape his arms and he follows her into the living room, watching her sit next to Heidi, and suddenly a little flicker of hope grew inside of him. They've been through so much these past few months, it took everything he had not to push his luck and sit down on that couch next to the love of his life, but she wasn't ready. Abel knows what he did to her will take a long time to heal. Bruises can heal. It's all that internal shit that will leave its mark on their lives together.

….

_The Clubhouse_

"Abel," Tara says coming out of the office at the clubhouse and hugging him tight as he greets her.

"Hey, mom," he says wrapping his arm around her shoulders and walking back into the office. "Heidi's back."

"Yeah…is it too soon? Chelsy just came by and took her. How's she doing?" Tara asks him. She will never condone Abel's actions, but she's learned over the years that there are boundaries in place. Just cause she's the queen of Charming doesn't mean she can interfere in everything. Abel and Chelsy had to deal with the consequences of Declan's actions. She tried to talk to both of them, but neither would listen. Both too consumed by their own grief and anger at the injustice of what happened to see they were destroying each other. Chelsy by sleeping with Cody and Abel beating her so bad she lost consciousness.

"She's getting better, but nothing's changed. Heidi's safe with us, mom, I promise," he tells her giving her a smile. "We're going to the beach soon."

"A little family outing, huh? Think that's a good thing?" she asks him wanting to know his opinion on where he stands with his wife.

"I don't know. I have no idea what we're doing," he tells her honestly.

"The guys are worried about you and her. They miss you guys, you bring a lot of joy here, Abel, you two are the future of this club," she reminds him.

"Jesus Christ, mom, one thing at a time," he tells her not needing her to remind him of his responsibilities.

"I'm sorry about everything, baby," she tells him. He looks to the floor after hearing this, hating that she was the one apologizing. She apologized before, as did his father, and as everyone else who knew the truth about the miscarriage. It wasn't their job to apologize. The only apology he wanted to hear was the one from that bastard, Declan. When Abel heard about what he did, he made himself a promise that somehow, someway, he will earn his vengeance.

"What happened, Abel?" Tara asked him. He looks her in the eyes and he knew she was asking about the night he caught Chelsy and Cody together.

"I stopped thinking, mom. She's mine….I just…I just saw red," he tells her. He gives her a kiss on her forehead and walks out, taking a deep breath as he shielded his eyes with a pair of sunglasses.

"Hey, Abel! Where the hell you been, man? Come on, we're packed up here, shithead," Opie yells as he shuts the hood of a car.

"Shit, I'm coming, Op," he says patting Opie on the back as he passes by to take his cut off and put on his work shirt. As Abel opens up the hood of one of the cars, he sends a silent prayer up to God for this club. Most of the members didn't know what went down between him and Heidi. The only people who knew were the ones he and Jax trusted most and the few people Chelsy told. If he lived by normal standards, as part of the outside world, Abel knew he'd probably be in jail right now, but in the world he lives in, a man handles his own shit, and it's understood that the rest of the club would back the fuck off. Now, he's not condoning his actions, but he's glad his family doesn't see him differently, or see him as less than a man for beating on his woman. He was thankful that they were letting him handle it in his own way. It was his family and his job to make it right. Abel can honestly say that, up to this point, the damage he inflicted on his old lady was the biggest mistake he's ever made. He just hopes she'll forgive him in time.

…

"Mom, what the hell are you going on about now? Shit!" Chelsy says rolling her eyes at her mom on the phone.

"_I'm concerned about you and Abel, you sure you don't want to come home for a few weeks? I think distance between you and Abel would be good right now_," Vivian says.

"I think you're right, mom. What do I tell Abel? He won't just let me leave the damn state with his daughter," she says going into the bathroom to look in the mirror. The bruises were fading, but not soon enough.

"_He can't say shit right now. I want my daughter back, sweetheart. I want the girl that was never afraid to say shit to anyone. Come home, recharge, Charming isn't going anywhere. Abel isn't going anywhere, but you two can't be together right now. With everything that's happened, you can't be together right now. He hurt you, baby, and you may not say the words, but you resent him for not choosing you over the club. The best thing to do is come back to Tacoma_," Vivian tells her softly. Vivian wouldn't tell her daughter this but she was afraid that the miscarriage and everything that's occurred as a result of that would forever taint the club in her daughter's eyes. The Sons were a family, and she didn't want her daughter to leave her family.

"Yeah, it is," Chelsy whispers. "I gotta go, but I'll let you know. Get my room ready please."

"_Okay, Chelsy, love you," Vivian says._

Ending the phone call, Chelsy goes back into her bedroom and sits on the bed, twirling the phone in her hands. She went to check on her daughter who was taking a nap. Heidi was so much like Abel it was almost freaky. Her smile and her temper tantrums all matched her father. When she had a meltdown, she _really_ had a meltdown. No matter the consequences, Heidi did everything she could to get what she wanted. Chelsy always admired that in Abel, and she was glad the trait passed down to Heidi.

Maybe time away from Charming was what was best. She didn't want to give up on her life with Abel, but she needs time to figure out everything that was going on in her head.

"_Hey, can you get tomorrow off and we can go to the beach?" _she asks him through text.

"_Yeah, of course,"_ he replies almost instantly.

She then sends another text to her mother, telling her to expect her home soon.

* * *

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed and has expressed an interest in following this story. Expect the next update on Sunday. Shoot me a review if you don't mind. I love hearing from you guys. Thanks everyone!


	3. From this day forward

The next morning, Chelsy collected her giggly daughter and strapped her into the car seat.

"Castles, mama," Heidi says giving her a big kiss on the cheek.

"Yeah, sweetie, we're gonna go make sand castles and play in the waves and catch the tiny fish. You wanna do that?" Chelsy asks her.

"I want fish, mommy!" Heidi says clapping her hands. "Daddy, fish!"

"Yeah, we're gonna get you fish, baby girl, and on the way home, we can get you that fish bowl to put him in," Abel says looking at Heidi. He didn't even try to hide his grin as Chelsy rolled her eyes at him. She told him before they weren't ready for a pet. Heidi was too young, but he's been trying to get her that damn fish for a few months now.

"She wants that shithead, Nemo, babe," he tells her after closing the door. They both stare at each other, both of them surprised at how, on that morning, easy it was to fall back into normal conversation.

"We'll see," she says walking around him to go to the driver's side. "I'm driving."

"Yes, ma'am," he says turning towards the car window to make funny faces at Heidi through the glass. He felt like a clown, but for his little girl's happiness, there's nothing he wouldn't do.

Chelsy stayed quiet for most of the ride, letting Abel and Heidi have their time together. She didn't know how to bring up her taking Heidi and going back to Tacoma, but she did know it was the right thing to do, at least for now.

"The beach!" Heidi yells as they turn onto the sand. "Mommy, hurry!"

"We're going, baby girl! Just as impatient as your mother, you!" Abel says leaning towards the back seat to unbuckle Heidi and place her in his lap. He rolls the window down all the way and lets Heidi stick her hands out.

"She loves it," he tells Chelsy looking over at her. He knows something's bugging her, something that's making her anxious. With Heidi, he's learned to stay close for long enough and she'll let him in eventually. You can't yell at her and break her down that way. Patience wins her over and that attribute he's got in spades.

"Okay, Heidi, let's get sunscreen on you," Chelsy says turning on the car and placing the keys in the middle console. They get out and she hands Abel the sun screen. She watches them and can't help but laugh as Heidi tries to put some sunscreen on his face, getting frustrated as he moves away from her.

"Daddy!" she yells at him.

"Hey, I told you to quit that shit," he tells her firmly and she complies, having the good intuition to quit. They each hold one of Heidi's hands and walk towards the water to dip their feet. They had the intention of dipping their feet but Heidi had other plans. She went straight under, no fear at all, the temperature of the water not bothering her one bit.

"You know, you'd enjoy today more if you quit thinking so damn hard and let me in on what's going on in that head of yours," he tells her quietly, making sure Heidi doesn't hear him.

"I'm thinking of how to tell you," she confesses refusing to meet his eyes when he turns towards her.

"I'm right here," he replies leaving her side to splash Heidi with water after she splashed them with her feet.

"I want to go back to Tacoma for a little bit, spend some time with my family. I want to take Heidi," she tells him meeting his eyes. He left his sunglasses in the car, but she kept hers on, using them as a barrier between her and Abel.

"How long?" he asks her after a moment of silence. He moves his feet in the water and she knows the act of doing that is helping him keep calm in front of Heidi.

Chelsy stands completely still taking a moment to enjoy the feel of the wind as it brushes against her loose shirt and shorts.

"I don't know," she tells him truthfully. They're both at the point in their marriage and in their lives that anything short of the truth would destroy everything they've spend the last few years building. It wasn't all gone, but much of it was damaged, and she knew she didn't have any idea of how to fix what's been damaged. She was his old lady. She got his crow, his name, tattooed on her delicate skin. Hell, she gave birth to his only child. She needed to figure out the shit that was going on inside her before she could be his old lady again.

"When everything happened, I got lost, Abel," she says trying to explain where her head was at. "And I think a part of you did too. We both struggled with the reality of everything, and we got lost in this club. The club had to come first so that all of us could survive in the long run. I get that. I've lived with that reality my whole life. I understand you couldn't do anything with Declan, and it was wrong of me to blame you for something that was out of your hands, but I won't say I don't wish you tried at least. You took it so easily, so calmly. Jax said you can't do anything and that was it. You didn't even put up a fight and that's the Son in you, baby," she tells him.

"Mama, look, fishies!" Heidi says not even bothering to look up at her mother as she tries to catch one.

They both play along with her and try to catch one and when Heidi says she wants to get out and play in the sand, Abel picks her up out of the cold water and they walk back to the car, Chelsy getting the toys out of the back and Abel sitting Heidi down in the sand, letting her play around.

Chelsy sits down beside him, her arms resting on her knees.

"I'd give everything to take back what happened, but I can't change it. I'd give my life to undo hitting you. I saw you with Cody and all I could think about was all the shit I already lost. I didn't want to lose you too. I was mad that you were giving up on us," he tells her. "I'll never do it again, and the only way I can prove that to you is by showing you. I can't do that if you won't give me a chance. Running to Tacoma isn't the answer."

"I'm not running, Abel. If I wanted to run, I'd have filed for divorce and taken Heidi and left the house. I need time to not be angry anymore with you, with this club. You can come see her anytime you want and you can call her and video chat. Just for a little while, I need things to be this way," she tells him and she looks at him, watching him watch Heidi and she's glad she's wearing the glasses. It'll hide the tears that are forming at least.

"I can go nomad for a while," he tells her offering another option. "We can both spend some time away and heal as a family.

"You and I both know your dad and the rest of the guys will never vote for it," she tells him. "And I don't want to worry about you being on the road on your own."

"So that's it? You take Heidi and leave. What the fuck do I do?" he asks her feeling his head pound as his blood rushes through him. He never thought he'd have to say goodbye to his girls, not like this at least.

"What happens if I don't go and we stay here? We go to dinners at your parent's place every week and go to Friday night parties pretending like we're fine when we're not? I don't want to live like that. I love you and I hope you can accept my decision. I'll come back to you, I just need to process everything without the constant reminders of everything that's happened," she says moving closer in the sand towards him. Heidi was content digging a hole around herself in the sand.

As they watch her move sand around, Abel's arm wraps around Chelsy, and for the first time in a good while, Chelsy doesn't tense up. Instead, she leans towards him, accepting the embrace.

"I'm sorry I slept with Cody," she whispers to him.

"I'm sorry I pushed you towards him," he says and they both, in that moment, accept the other's mistakes and both build up the courage to go their separate ways, at least a little while.

…..

They arrive home to find Opie's bike in the driveway. Chelsy gets out and looks at Abel, letting him approach his uncle first while she gets Heidi a sleeping Heidi out of the car seat.

"Hey, what's up?" Abel greets him. Opie, although the years have served him well, knew the time would come when the next generation would step up and replace him and Jax. As vice president, he's learned the good comes with the bad and sometimes the bad far outweighs the good. Whether the cause is internal or external, there's always a price to pay and someone always has to pay it.

"Hey, just came to talk to you about something," Opie says quietly as Chelsy walks up to them carrying a now grumpy Heidi and her purse. "Hey, girls, how was the beach?"

"Amazing, although I'm pretty sure I'm gonna get shitty tan lines. Heidi, can you say hi?" Chelsy says trying to get Heidi to greet their guest, but Heidi refused to pick her head up from her mother's neck.

"Ahh, it's okay. She'll feel better after a bath," Opie says laughing as Heidi just holds her mother tighter.

"Speaking of baths, I'm gonna go get it started while you two talk your man talk," she says leaving them to it.

"She looks better. Both of you do," Opie comments after watching her enter the house.

"She wants to go to Tacoma with Heidi for a while. She's leaving in a few days," Abel says leaning against the car.

"Damn, as in divorce?" Opie asks getting real serious. He's watched Abel grow up his whole life and he knew the best thing aside from Heidi to ever enter his world is Heidi's mother.

"She said she doesn't want one. She just wants some space," Abel says pulling out smokes from his cut.

"She's taking Heidi. Are you all right with that?" Opie asks.

"The best place for Heidi to be at right now is with her mother. Either she goes with Chelsy or she stays here and my mom watches her for much of the day while I'm at work and Chelsy won't accept that in any situation. We got runs up and down the coast coming up so I'll see them," he says.

"You're not fighting her. Smart man," Opie says.

"You've gotten close to my old lady. You think she'll come back?" Abel asks. Opie knows he's not asking his vice president, he's asking his uncle, and Opie wouldn't lie to him.

"That girl loves you. Through all of this shit, she loves you. She's strong enough to survive without you, but she doesn't want to. My only advice is that you don't respect her wishes for too long and let her get comfortable up north," Opie says. "You married one of the strongest old ladies I've ever seen, and one of the most determined."

"Don't I know it, why are you here again?" Abel asks getting back to the original reason for this visit.

"Tara's having a dinner tomorrow night. After the dinner, there's a meeting set up with a few SamBel nomads that came stateside this morning. Jax wanted to let you enjoy the beach before telling you. He wanted to tell you himself but he's pissed off your mother and is trying to warm his way back into her pants," Opie says casually.

"Jesus Christ, that's my mother," Abel says laughing away the image of his parents.

"Also, we decided it's time to bring Tommy home," Opie says. Tommy, once he patched in, decided to go Nomad. He's been out on the road for the past 3 months.

"What's the rush?" when Tommy said he wanted to go nomad, Abel didn't expect it. He didn't want his brother to leave, but he understood Tommy's need to get out from under the pressure of being Jackson Teller's son and just enjoy life on the road for a bit.

"Tommy's damn good in a tight corner, Abel. Both of you are. There's been some news from Belfast about the IRA and about Declan Saslan. Call your brother, get him home, we'll discuss everything else tomorrow. Jax has called mandatory church before the dinner. Don't be late," Opie says ending the discussion. Before he drives away, Abel stops him.

"Hey, Op! Don't tell anyone about Chelsy leaving. I'll do it," he says.

"Sure, kid," Opie says.

When Abel gets back inside, he can hear the laughs coming from the bathroom.

"Hey, daddy!" Chelsy says when he walks in. "You wanna finish?"

"Yeah," he says getting down on his knees and grabbing a rubber duck and placing it on Heidi's head making her laugh trying to get it off.

Chelsy moves out of the way but doesn't leave yet, instead taking a few moments to enjoy them playing.

"Everything okay?" she asks him.

"Yeah, I'll tell you later," he says moving in to kiss her quick on the lips before she has the chance to stop him. Opie's right. He can give Chelsy the time that she needs, but that don't mean he won't be there pulling her back to him.

* * *

A/N: Here's the update. Expect the next one on Sunday as always. Thanks for all the reviews! Bunch of hugs from me to you!


	4. Old-ladied

When Jax sat down at the head of the table during church, Abel had a feeling this meeting wouldn't end by the time his mother expected them for dinner. On Abel's right sat Tommy, his left Opie, and as the doors slammed shut, Abel mentally patted himself on the back for getting his brother back home. The few hours Tommy's been home already has brought up the morale in the clubhouse.

That was his brother. To him, if you still had enough breathe in you to live another day, the world wasn't complete shit. You can always make it better. Abel found that since Chelsy told him she wanted to go to her home town, he was calm in front of her, but as soon as he left her sight, he felt himself drowning in his anger. He understood where she was coming from, he just hated waiting for that sign to come from her that he was forgiven. Over the years, Tommy and Chelsy formed a friendship and a loyalty that had the power to last the rest of their natural lives. Abel won't deny he's hoping of cashing in on that friendship and using his brother as a means to speed up all the processing she feels she can't do in Charming.

"All right, I hope nobody's got to piss and our asses are all content in these seats cause that door stays shut until we figure out business today. Before I begin, I want to let you all know that I got an old lady at home who will kill all of us with a scalpel if we don't make it in time to eat her dishes clean so let's get to it. I spoke to Brennen," Jax said bringing up SamBel's president. "It seems he can give us an opening to right a wrong that, up to this point, we couldn't."

Abel leans back in his seat; his curiosity peaked as to what the hell his father was talking about.

"Declan Saslin is coming stateside again to meet up with the Mayans. As SamBel hasn't sanctioned a visit across the pond nor has it or we sanctioned a sit down with the Mayans, Brennen is leaving it up to us as to how to handle this. He even sent us some help with the Nomads. They're hanging low with Hawk."

Hawk's a nomad that's quickly becoming second to Happy in SAMCRO legends. Most call him Junior, after Happy. Funny thing most people don't know is that Happy never trained or mentored the guy. Hawk's insanity and blood thirst came all from within himself.

Jax's gaze met his oldest son's before continuing on.

"Before anyone says anything, I'd like to say something. On behalf of this club, I speak for all of us when we say we would've loved the son you lost. We can't bring him back, undo the damage, but we have an opportunity to avenge the death of my unborn grandchild. Now, the IRA hasn't voiced any interest in expanding the gun trade past the Sons. They know they have to run it by us if they want to sell to other MCs which leads me to believe Saslin is branching out against daddy's wishes. This is the opportune moment for us, Abel. I vote we take it and let the fallout be what it is. We have to be smart about it though," Jax says looking at Abel.

"Where is he?" Abel says sitting up straighter. One hand is braced against his thigh, the other taking a pull from his newly lit cigarette. He could feel his blood flowing through him, his pulse as loud as thunder. All he needs is to get close enough to Saslin and he'd kill him so painfully he'd wish his cunt of a mother had chosen to abort him instead.

"Nevada. Few guys are trailing him," Jax says purposively being vague.

"So we kill the bastard and risk the IRA coming down on us unless we lay the blame elsewhere or we let him live and play pussy to these Irish bastards? We've gone ten rounds against them before, prez. I vote we can do it again," Happy says speaking up. Less than half the members sitting around the clubhouse were around during Clay's reign. The members that came after weren't around then, but they stood by their president as all voiced their agreement whether verbally or with nods.

"I'm in," Tommy says beside his brother. He may not have been around every day these past few months, but he wasn't left in the dark about the shit that's gone down. He was ready for life to be looking up again.

Abel nods his head in agreement as well and just as Jax picks up the gavel and slams the table, he asks Abel and Tommy to stay behind. The rest of the room clears out, leaving the two generations of Tellers staring at each other in silence for a few moments.

"How you boys doing?" Jax asks, watching them both. "How was the road, Tommy?"

"It was fine," Tommy replies looking at Abel.

"Abel?" Jax asks. "How's Chelsy? Tara said you guys went to the beach with Heidi. That's good, son."  
"Yeah, it was fine. I want to be the one to end his life," Abel says making sure that was clear.

"That goes without saying. I just want to be clear that we all use our brains before we act. I know it's hard, but we gotta think about the future of this club. We'll get rid of Saslin and still keep relations good with the IRA. We can do both effectively," Jax reiterates.

"I hear you," Abel says in full agreement.

"All right, then!" Tommy says ready to go eat. "Let's go, I'm hungry."

They all walk out, Tommy standing by Abel, and Jax follows behind them, feeling damn happy they would make it on time.

…

"Mama, paci!" Heidi says reaching out her hand for the pacifier Chelsy put in its protective box. Placing it in her purse, Chelsy tells her daughter the paci is for nighttime.

"No, I want it now," Heidi says about to enter one of her fits.

"Sweetheart, we don't have to go see grandma and grandpa. You can eat right here at home and then go to bed, no movie either. Behave or you'll get in trouble. You want a spanking?" Chelsy says her tone alerting to Heidi that her mother wasn't playing games. "Now, we're gonna be late. Go get Pooh and your shoes."

Watching her do as she's told, Chelsy hopes Heidi will calm down before dinner. She wasn't afraid to punish her, Abel wasn't either, but Tara had a hard time disciplining her, and tried to stop anyone who dared to raise a hand to Heidi.

"Chelsy!" Abel says coming into the house. His abrupt entrance scared the shit out of her.

"You know, you could make some damn noise when you come in before you start shouting, asshole!" Chelsy says throwing one of Heidi's blocks at him.

"I'll do better next time," he says grinning in such a way that she knows he won't even try.

"Hmm," she says zipping up Heidi's little Cinderella book bag.

"You can't go to Tacoma," he says wrapping a hand around her waist.

"Abel – " she says pushing his hand away and distancing herself away. Shit, she definitely wasn't expecting him to change his mind.

"Listen to me, this isn't about us, it's about the club. Something's about to happen in the next few days and you and Heidi need to stay here. For your protection, you can't go," he says not leaving any room for discussion. His word is law when it comes to her safety and to their daughter's safety. In this club, no other charter will accept them without his approval as her old man and as her husband.

"What's going on?" she asks. Things have settled since Declan left. The Mayans weren't causing trouble for the Sons lately. Things were actually pretty boring outside of her problems with Abel.

"There's no time to tell you right now," he says as they both hear Heidi coming. "I'll tell you soon."

"You better," she says. "This changes nothing, Abel."

"I know," he says, "We'll make do with the space we have here. Let me keep you safe, Chelsy. If you want me to stay somewhere else for a few weeks, I can do that. I won't let our shit keep me from keeping you and Heidi safe."

With that, he grabs Heidi's book bag and calls for her, telling her it's time to go. Chelsy walks quietly behind them as she locks up, so deep in thought she didn't notice the other bike in the driveway.

"Hey, my lovely sister-in-law," Tommy says waving at her. "And my beautiful niece! Damn, you just keep getting sweeter and sweeter, don't you?"

"God-daddy," Heidi says running up to him. "I love you."

"I love you too, sweetie. You being good?" he says pushing her hair behind her ear.

"Yeah! Daddy's gonna get me a fish," she tells him. Tommy's first instinct was to look at Chelsy and he chuckled, seeing her role her eyes.

"Come on, baby, we gotta go, your god-daddy will meet us there," Abel says avoiding the fish topic. He didn't wanna piss his old lady off about one more thing.

"How's it going? Tommy says throwing his cigarette on the concrete.

"Ask me that after this damn dinner," Abel says walking to his own bike.

…

A few minutes into the dinner, Chelsy said "_fuck it"_ to the world and let herself enjoy her night. Her daughter was enjoying being the center of attention and her old man was not at all shy about showing his affection for her. Since the moment they walked through the door, he's stayed close to her, physically touching her at all times. Currently, his hand was resting quite comfortably around her shoulders, playing with strands of her hair.

"Chelsy, can you help me in the kitchen?" Tara asks from the doorway leaning into the kitchen.

"Yeah," she replies getting up. She sees the smirk on Abel's face despite him trying to mask it with taking a drink from his beer. She isn't afraid to hit him upside the head and when she does, the whole table laughs, Tommy even going a step further by making whipping noises. Abel doesn't mind. There's not much he won't put up with if it'll get them back on track.

"Chelsy!" Tara says yelling from the kitchen.

"Jesus Christ, woman! I'm coming!" Chelsy says coming to stand beside her. There were platters of salads and fish with rice. "Are you feeding an army?"

"You haven't been around in a while, but it's impossible to forget how much these damn boys eat," Tara reminds her. "How is everything?"  
Leave it to Tara to bring her back to reality.

"It's fine. Nothing for you or anyone else to be concerned about," Chelsy says. "In fact, he and I are gonna get away for a few days, just the two of us."

"Oh, that's great. It'll help. You two can reconnect. Abel hasn't mentioned anything," Tara comments.

"That's cause he doesn't know it yet," Chelsy said taking a few of the platters to the table. Tara follows behind her, wanting to see how this will play out.

"Chelsy! So my little niece here said you guys went to the beach today. We can rent a beach house this weekend if you want and have a girl's weekend," Alyssa says.

Chelsy smiles knowing it wouldn't be a girl's only weekend. Alyssa has gotten in the habit of using their girl's only events to sneak away to hang out with her friends, and by friends, Chelsy knows she means boy. She hasn't gotten Alyssa to tell her who yet, but one day she's gonna get Alyssa to spill the beans.

"No, we can't," Chelsy says sounding sad and looking at Abel.

"Why not? You love the beach," Abel says. The second the idea came out of his sister's mouth, he thought it was a great idea. He'd have some of the guys watch over them while he and the club took care of Declan once and for all.

"Alyssa, your brother's taking me on a second honeymoon this weekend," Chelsy says smirking back at Abel, enjoying the confused look on his face. The entire table grew quiet, watching the exchange. They all missed the back and forth banter between the young couple and were happily surprised how normal the two of them seemed together.

"A second honeymoon," Abel slowly said watching his old lady closely. She was testing him, seeing how far he would go to fix things. He was no pussy, and if his old lady wanted a second damn honeymoon, he could provide that. As his mind raced between his role as a husband and his duties with the club, an idea came to him that would finally put Declan Saslin behind them permanently.

"Yeah," she says back to him settling into his shoulder, popping a cherry in her mouth.

"Yeah, Alyssa, we're gonna take the weekend. We do, however, need a babysitter," he says his eyes not moving from his old lady's plump lips, the juices from the cherry still on her lips.

"Of course," Alyssa says excited but Heidi knew from the tone in her voice she was hoping she would agree to the weekend.

As the dinner continued on, Abel looked at his father, nodding to him when his father gave him a confused look.

"We'll talk later," Abel says to him when Chelsy was distracted talking to Harry. Little did Abel know, Chelsy heard the statement. Chelsy, over time, had just programmed herself to be in-tuned to her old man. She knew when he was holding something back from her and when he was doing it to protect her. This was one of those times. As she picked at her food, she snuck a glance at him, watching him until he caught her.

"What?" he whispered to her. He smiled, seeing her cheeks become slightly red.

"Nothing," she whispered back.

…

Later on that night and well after dropping Chelsy and Heidi off home, Abel sat by himself at the bar in the clubhouse. His father was in the chapel talking to Hawk. After explaining to his father that he intended to bring Chelsy in on what was going on, he was surprised his father approved.

"She has just as much right as the rest of us to watch that asshole die. We can get Saslin. It's up to you two how to handle it from there," Jax told him before leaving to take the call.

"Abel! What the fuck happened to Jenny and her barbies?" Tommy says taking a seat next to him.

"You've been away far too long, little brother. Girls got replaced by more natural figures," Abel says commenting on the new hang arounds.

"Ahh, they're all the same, plastic or not," Tommy says pointing to the prospect for a beer.

"The nomads are picking him up tonight," Abel says bringing up Saslin.

"I'll be there," Tommy says patting his older brother on the back. "We'll put this shit behind us once and for all."


	5. Today for Tomorrow

The weekend came and Chelsy found herself settling in at a rented apartment in Oregon close to the boarder. Not the honeymoon she was expecting, but she had a feeling this trip was more about business than a vacation.

"Fridge is stocked. I was assured we'd have everything we'd need," Abel tells her. She sees him drop his keys on the table and the light catches his wedding band.

"What's really going on here, Abel? And don't give me the bullshit answer. We're not here for us," she tells him.

"Ah, but we are," he tells her moving to stand in front of her. "Where are we, Chelsy, in our marriage?"

"I don't know," she tells him honestly.

"Am I forgiven?" he asks her.

"Do you ever wonder what life would be like if I didn't lose the baby? How different things would be?" she asks moving to sit on the couch.

He sits down beside her, his elbows rested on his knees as he plays with the rings on his fingers. He isn't sure what to say to that. Of course he's thought about it, but he isn't sure he should tell her he does everything he can to not think about it. Whether it be with weed or alcohol, he drowns the thoughts out, not wanting to grieve the loss he feels.

"Yeah, I do, but I try not to think about it," he tells her.

"I don't know where to go with what happened. You still won't even talk about Cody. He hasn't been around the clubhouse," she says.

"Do you want to see him?" he asks her.

"It's not about that. Shit, I don't even know if he's alive," she tells him. She knows she's blown his chances of being patched.

"If he wasn't, good ol' Charming sheriff would have come knocking. Did you enjoy it?" he asks her.

"Did I enjoy it?" she asks him appalled he'd ask her that. "Fuck you, you asshole!"

She gets up off the couch and grabs a beer from the fridge.

"You wanted to talk about this shit, we're talking," he says back to her. She stares back at him before taking a long sip of the beer. "I wanna know did you enjoy getting fucked by that dipshit?"

"Why does this matter?" she asks him. "What's done is done."

"It matters because what happened is a part of the shit that brought us to this point. I get why you did it. It's easier to forgive you than it is to forgive me," he tells her, his guilt driving him in this.

"What do you want, Abel?" she asks.

"I want my old lady back. I want to come home to our house and have sex with my wife. I want to make you comfortable to be around me again. I want us the way we used to be. I miss being connected to you," he tells her.

"I miss you too," she tells him.

"Cody's out of the state. He's old enough to leave home and he made the right decision to leave," he tells her.

"Abel, what's going on?" she asks him. "What are you keeping from me?"

He walks up to her and picks her up to place her on the counter.

"I want us to heal, and I've found a way to make that happen, to leave this in the past," he tells her.

"What?" she asks curiously. Her hands wonder to his broad shoulders, enjoying being close to him. He takes a few steps toward her to bring them even closer.

"I have Declan," he whispers in her ear.

She pushes him away, her mind trying to process his confession.

"Say that again."

"You heard me," he says watching her closely to monitor her reaction. He's thought a lot about how much involvement she should be in and he's decided to leave the decision up to her. If she wants to be involved in his death, he'll let her be the one to bring it up, but he won't pressure her to see him.

"Are you going to kill him?" she asks staring at his cut.

"Yeah," he tells her.

"Okay," she tells him pushing him back even more so she can get down. He refuses to move, his feet planted too strong for her to move.

"What are you thinking?" he asks her.

"Just tell me when it's done," she says. Before he can reply, she places her hand on the back of his neck and leans up to kiss him. As soon as he responds, she drops her hands to his chest, giving him control. Neither pulling away, both enjoying the intimacy and safety in the kiss. His arms are wrapped around her, pulling her as close as he can.

"I love you," he tells her somewhere in between.

"Me too," she says pulling away to let her head drop to his neck.

She leaves him standing there and goes to the bathroom, locking herself in. She leans against the sink, trying to calm her pacing heart. Of all the things Abel could've told her, she wasn't expecting this.

….

"Hey, mom," Alyssa says welcoming her mother home. "I finally got Heidi down. The older she's getting, the more she only wants her parents to put her down."

"You were the same way. You had meltdowns all over the house when Jax and I tried to leave your sight," Tara replies. "Speaking of your father, has he called?"

"Yeah, everything's fine so far," she responds.

Somebody starts banging on the door and Tara sighs knowing it can only be somebody with the courtesy skills of an outlaw.

"What the hell are you banging on my door for?" Tara says yelling at Opie's son. Harry had the decency to look sorry for a second before he got back to business.

"Sorry, Tara, hey, Alyssa," he says greeting them both.

"Hi, Harry, what's wrong?" Tara asked still waiting for an explanation for his impatience.

"Uh, Fresno called. They need to house some brothers in Charming for a few days. Clubhouse is full with the nomads that have come in," Harry started to explain.

"Why the hell is that urgent? It's not like they're in town this moment. You could've just called," Alyssa said laughing at his fidgeting.

"They are here, and I don't know where to put them. Kim said to get you immediately," Harry said. Kim was Tara's right hand girl. She was married to a member that transferred from Utah. Luke John is the club's treasurer and smart enough, Tara was surprised he didn't go into accounting he was so good. In taking care of the money and having great negotiation skills, he has helped bring prosperity to the club over few years he's been here.

"I will be there within the hour. Tell Kim to set them up in the apartments behind the clubhouse. The clubhouse has acquired quite a few houses and after paying off the mortgages, converted them into clubhouse-style dorm rooms.

"There are some people there from what Kim told me," Harry said.

"If they're not club-members or immediate families, place them elsewhere," Tara says leaning against the couch.

"Yes, ma'am," Harry said before leaving. "I need Chelsy back. I'm too old for this shit."

"Not too old, ma. Dad's impatient tendencies are just rubbing off on you. You mind watching Heidi for half an hour? I gotta go do something," Alyssa says.

"Yeah, of course," Tara says.

….

As darkness falls and Chelsy can't flip through the channels anymore, she makes a call on impulse.

"_Hello?" _Tommy says picking up.

"Hey, don't say anything. Don't say my name, just listen," Chelsy says cutting him off.

"_Okay,"_ Tommy says moving away from the rest of the guys so no one overhears him.

"Where is he?" Chelsy asks. Abel was gone, leaving her a note telling her he'll call when it's done. She wasn't going to get involved. She felt this deep anger that wouldn't go away and she was afraid she would fall into Happy Lowman territory if she ever laid eyes on Declan again.

"_The old warehouse up past the old mill. I'll come get you and then I can get the guys out of here so you can do what you need to do but Abel and I are gonna stay,"_ he tells her lighting a new cigarette.

"I wanna do it alone," she tells him.

"_Whatever you want, I'm on my way," _he tells her before hanging up.

"Thanks, Tommy, for everything," she says.

Getting out of the black van, Chelsy stares at the rundown warehouse. As old as it looked, it was intact so that nobody could see inside which is perfect for the club's needs. It was a little chilly, she could see her own breath in the cold night. Tommy leads her inside, keeping her on one trail.

"Don't walk on the grass. The least evidence of us being here, the better," he tells her.

"Hey, brother," Tommy says greeting Abel. "I'll go in with him while you two have a little chat. Time is of the essence here. Pops is only giving us so long before he calls to make sure this is done," Tommy warns them.

"You don't have to do this," Abel says.

"I want to," she tells him wrapping her arm around his waist and leaning in when he brings his arm around her slender shoulders.

"This is why you told me the club was holding him, didn't you?" she asks him.

"I wanted to give you the choice. You deserve it," he tells her.

They walk inside and Chelsy comes face to face with the man who single-handedly has changed the course of her life. He took her second child from her, her little boy. All she has of him are ultrasound pictures and a box of clothes and new bottles that were bought in preparation for the little man.

"Well, look who it is! Huh!" Declan says laughing as she and Abel walk in. His face was bruised and even being tied to a chair and bleeding from the handcuffs keeping him in place, he still had the nerve to hold onto his ego and pride.

"Getting your _old lady_ to do your dirty work? Doll, I think you made the wrong choice in choosing him as your old man. He doesn't have a lot of balls. Well, no, my mistake. He has enough balls to get you knocked up but I don't think his little floaters are sturdy enough. Has he managed to knock you up again?" he says spitting out at her. In true fashion and getting exactly what Declan wants, Abel hits him in the stomach, hard, managing to shut him up for a few minutes.

"It's okay, he won't live long enough to say much more," Chelsy says placing her hand on Abel's back to calm him. She walks over to the table and sees the set of knives on the table and as the possibilities run through her head, her stomach starts to churn. All of a sudden, Happys infamous ways of handling business don't appeal to her. She picks up the gun lying beside the knives and checks the chamber, seeing it full.

She goes to stand in front of him and aims the gun. The gun is touching Declan right over the area where there would be a heart if he had one and she empties the entire chamber.

Abel calls her name and she doesn't respond. She stands there holding onto the gun and just looks at this lifeless body bleeding out.

"I'm a nurse and I don't think I've ever appreciated death. It ends suffering and pain. It brings closure, you know? People die and that's life. Shit happens, but I don't think I've ever enjoyed death. I enjoy it right now, Abel," she tells to him. She didn't feel guilt or shame. She feels calm, in a way she hadn't felt in months.

She lets him take the gun out of her hand and she notices he's wearing gloves. He starts to clean the gun with bleach and she focuses back on the body.

"Come on," he tells her after cleaning the gun and taking off the gloves. "Let's go for a ride."

After a bumpy ride back to the main road and a few turns leading up into the hills, they reach a cliff.

"Here," he says handing her a blanket to wrap herself up in. They both sit down near the edge, both watching the town below them.

"How are you doing with all this?" he asks her. He knew she'd never killed anyone before. As exposed as she was to the dangers of club life, she was well protected.

It changes you, knowing you've taken somebody's life. After his first kill, he felt this heaviness that wouldn't go away. It was guilt, but as time went by, that guilt eased and the logic set in. Being an outlaw simplifies a lot of the grey the rest of the world worries about. You have the right to live your life how you see fit and the Sons' way of living is a part of him. To protect that, it was necessary for the enemy to die. Chelsy's role isn't to protect the club in the same way he has to. He didn't want the same weight that he felt to fall on her shoulders.

"I don't know, ask me in the morning," she tells him giving him one of her small smiles.

….

"Thank god you're here, mom. One of the Fresno guys had his girlfriend come down. _Apparently_, they're on vacation here, and there's no room for her and her ego here. She won't stop butting into shit, thinking she has a say in how shit is run here. This isn't fucking Fresno. I wanna hit the shit out of her but I can't because her man, Todd, has declared her his old lady and is wanting her to get her crow tat before they leave," Alyssa says to her mother. Her mother returned back to the clubhouse out of scrubs and in tight blue jeans and a white lace sleeveless shirt and wearing a new leather jacket.

"Hi to you too, sweetheart," Tara says reaching in to get Heidi.

"Is the jacket new? I love it. I should take a picture and send it to dad," Alyssa says hoping her mother's genes protect her in her later years.

"Who is this chick?" Tara asks handing Heidi to her aunt.

"Hi, Lyssa" Heidi says. She refused to say her name with the A in front of it.

"Hi, sweetie! Ready to play? Yeah, we're gonna go play on the swings in a bit. Her name is Sarah," Alyssa says.

"I'll handle Sarah. Take Heidi and go play but it's getting colder so don't keep her out long. Jax and the guys are on their way back so your dad and I will probably crash here. I set up everything you'll need for Heidi at the house. Just focus on her and I'll handle the rest with Kim," Tara tells her. She gives both Alyssa and Heidi a kiss on the cheek and heads into the clubhouse.

"You know, Heidi, I am really counting down the hours until your mommy gets back so I can stop filling in for her. I'd much rather watch you all day. This mommy business doesn't seem so hard," Alyssa says smiling at her little niece.

* * *

A/N: Hi, guys. I'm so sorry for my absence. My computer kind of went haywire and I had to send it in to get fixed so I wouldn't lose all my stuff. Here is the update and we are back on schedule. Thank you all for reviewing and expressing interest in this story. Let me know your thoughts on the story so please review for me! Thanks, guys!


	6. Surrounded by sand

"Do you realize how early it is?" Chelsy says to her old man. She was forced to get out of her warm bed when Abel kept pushing her to get up.

"You wanted a damn honeymoon, I'm trying to give you one. Now that last night is done with, it's time to get shit back on track," he tells her. His hair was getting longer, she noticed. She kinda wondered if she wanted him to cut it shorter or let it get longer.

"I love hearing you think our life together is shit," she tells him walking past him. He slaps her ass as she walks by. "Hey, asshole! What the hell was that for?"

"I'm making an effort. Work with me," he tells her placing his hands on her hips. Her hands are by her side and when he brings her closer to him, they move to rest on his arms.

"I am working with you. I got out of bed after we got back a few hours ago. I'm tired but I'm curious. It takes a hell of a lot of throwing shit at you and shoving you to get you out of bed unless, of course, its business related or Heidi. Given that neither of those two are here right now, I can assure you I'm taking this seriously. Now where are we going? Are we going to be outside or inside? I need to pick appropriate shoes," she tells him leaning into him. His hands wrap around and under the white tanktop she slept in. As his hands caress her lower back right above the black boy-shorts covering her, he kisses her nose before picking her up and carrying her to the bathroom.

"Wear whatever the hell you want, just go get ready," he tells her and with that, he slams the door to the bathroom and goes back to the kitchen to finish his cereal.

…

"Jax?" Tara says calling him out from under the old range rover he was working on.

"What!?" he yells back at her along with a few curses. Something had her old man in a bad mood and it was something bad. Just a few hours ago, he was all smiles and jokes as he was enjoying the end of the nightmare that was Declan Saslin. Too bad that good mood didn't last long.

"Everything okay, sweetheart?" she asks him playfully kicking him in his leg. "You seem tense, baby."

"Tara! Goddamn it!" he says rolling out from under the car and throwing the wrench at the toolset on the ground next to him.

"What, baby?" she asks him sweetly. "I just noticed you seemed a little tense and given the two mechanics you sent home all within ten minutes of each other, I wanted to make sure we still had some mechanics left by the end of the day."

He didn't respond to her. Instead, he gave her one of those looks that told her he was debating whether he was pissed at her for bothering him or whether he loved her for it.

"Let's go home," he says.

"Home for what?" she asks hoping Alyssa took Heidi to the park like she said she would.

"Just get your shit, Tara," he tells her kissing her on the cheek before leaving her to go trade in his work shirt for his cut.

"Irish called," Opie says coming up behind her.

"For what?" she asks walking back to the office.

"For Saslin. Apparently, they can't get a hold of him," Opie says sounding a little smug. "They want us to help find him."

"Hmm, I have a feeling that's a tall order for us to fill, my dear friend," she says looking up at him.

"I think you're right, sweetheart, but to keep good relations, we gotta play the part," he tells her. "Take care of your old man. This one's bugging the shit out of him."

"I'll take care of him, don't worry," she tells him.

…

"What the hell is this?" she asks him. He ended up taking her to this secluded area on the beach and was now in the process of building a fire on the beach.

"You love the beach so just sit down and enjoy it," he tells her winking at her.

"I didn't bring a bathing suit," she reminds him.

"It's a little cold but nobody else is here so go in your damn birthday suit," he tells her clapping his hands in a job well done as the wood begins to burn.

"Haha, funny!" she says shaking her head at him as she rolls her eyes.

"Marry me again," he asks her. Their eyes meet and he goes to sit on the sand beside her.

"What?" she asks leaning closer to him, their hands join and after everything that's happened within the last 48 hours, she's glad they have this time to be together.

"Renew our vows right here," he tells her.

"What?" she asks him again for clarity. He can see the surprise in her eyes.

"I love you and this is my way of showing you that I mean what I say. We're gonna go back to how we were. It won't be exactly how it was but we can be that happy again," he tells her.

"You want to renew our vows here?" she asks for clarity. When he nods, she slaps his arm.

"You don't wanna get married again?" he says wondering if maybe this was a little too soon.

"It's not that. You should have warned me so I could wear something else," she tells him settling back in next to him, her hand reaching for his.

"You're comfortable in what you're wearing otherwise you wouldn't have put it on. This is for us. No guests, no pictures, just us," he tells her. "We're perfect how we are….together."

"That was actually romantic and kinda cute," she comments.

He leans into her and kisses her, not a light kiss to give her a chance to pull away but one that barely gave her time to catch her breath.

"What was that?" he asked her before lying down on the sand and pulling her to him.

"That was one of the things that made me fall in love with you," she confesses.

"Well, then, let me make you fall in love again," he tells her kissing her again. She lays on her back and he comes above her to rest his body on top of hers.

"Hey, aren't we supposed to be vertical for this?" she asks him as he begins a slow attack on her neck. Her leg comes up to fully accept him in the cradle of her thighs.

"Not necessarily. I, Abel Teller, take you, Chelsy Teller, to be my lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold….." he begins to say before he initiates another intimate kiss.

"Hmmm," she whispers enjoying that. "Finish it."

"I vow to protect you and stand by you for all of my days. I'll cherish you the way you deserve to be," he tells her looking her in the eyes. He then takes her left hand and holds it in his hand, kissing her hand right over her rings. "All that I am, all that I have and will ever have, is yours, forever."

"I, Chelsy Davy, take you, Abel Teller, to be my lawfully wedded husband. I promise to be patient with you when you're being an ass and I vow to always love you for all of my days. I vow to give myself and all I am to you. Nobody will ever have me the way you do."

They seal it with a kiss and despite the fact that they didn't do it the traditional way, it's perfect for them.

A/N: Here's the next one guys. Thanks for all the reviews. Let me know what you guys think! Thanks!


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